Watch Your Back! — Donald E. Westlake

A thief's plans to rob a corrupt billionaire's penthouse go hilariously awry in this classic heist novel by a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master.

“John Dortmunder, deadpan burglar extraordinaire, leads a cast of marvelously twisted supporting characters in his stellar 12th outing. . . . Events unfold in a delicious sequence, and every step is complemented by great writing.” -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

It's a long way from the island of Manhattan to the island resort where Preston Fareweather has his hedonistic hideout -- avoiding the legal prosecutions of five embittered ex-wives and enjoying the attentions of the prettiest gold diggers who happen to come his way. A terrible human being, Preston makes the terrible mistake of getting friendly with an equally dyspeptic personality: a New York fence named Arnie Albright.

Arnie went to the island paradise to become a happier man. It worked. After a week with Preston, Arnie comes home to New York with a whole new attitude and a proposition for his associate John Dortmunder: a can't miss, million-dollar robbery of Preston's nearly unguarded, art-filled Fifth Avenue penthouse.

But when Dortmunder and his clean-up crew get together to plan the heist, they quickly get distracted and suddenly a billionaire from Fifth Avenue and a would-be Tony Soprano from New Jersey have one thing in common: John Dortmunder is after them both at the same time . . .and disaster can't be far behind.

“Westlake is in fine form. . . . [He] renders characters that are delightfully askew. . . . Crime may not pay, but the adventures are always rich in the company of Westlake's men of steal.” -- Booklist (starred review)